
Will Virat Kohli play in the Ranji Trophy? BCCI has made it mandatory for India's Test regulars to participate in domestic cricket if they are fit and the rule applies to all the players irrespective of their stature. While the likes of Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal have already made themselves available for their respective state teams, all eyes are on Virat Kohli. If the former Indian skipper ends up turning up for Delhi in their next Ranji fixture against Saurashtra, this will be his first appearance for his state team since 2012.
Kohli was part of the star-studded Delhi team that had Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma among other players in their line-up. It was the clash against Uttar Pradesh which was played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Ghaziabad. After losing the toss, Delhi could only post 235 runs in 65.2 overs with Punit Bisht being the top-scorer with his 52-run knock.
Virat Kohli managed to muster 14 runs off 19 balls with two fours to his name before getting out to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. In response, Suresh Raina-led UP amassed 403 runs in their first innings taking a massive lead of 168 runs thanks to a century from Mukul Dagar and a 91-run knock from Mohammad Kaif.
Kohli was promoted to bat at number three in the second innings and fared decently scoring 43 runs off 65 balls with seven fours to his name. Skipper Sehwag surprisingly batted at number six and notched up 107 runs off 165 deliveries. However, Delhi could score only 322 runs in their second essay setting a target of 155 runs for UP. It took only 39.2 overs for them to gun down the target with six wickets in hand as Raina played a vital hand of 37 runs.